The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper

Synopsis:

Right after high school, Joe Goffman left sleepy Bush Falls, Connecticut and never looked back. Then he wrote a novel savaging everything in town, a novel that became a national bestseller and a huge hit movie. Fifteen years later, Joe is struggling to avoid the sophomore slump with his next novel when he gets a call: his father's had a stroke, so it's back to Bush Falls for the town's most famous pariah. His brother avoids him, his former classmates beat him up, and the members of the book club just hurl their copies of Bush Falls at his house. But with the help of some old friends, Joe discovers that coming home isn't all bad--and that maybe the best things in life are second chances.

This book had the typical plot line of a person that hasn’t been to their hometown in awhile. They have to go back for a tragic reason, and they end up rediscovering themselves.

Now, just because this has been done quite a few times, it doesn’t mean that the book was boring. Quite the opposite, really. It took me a few chapters to really get into the book, but once I hit that point, I didn’t want to put it down.

It is hard to talk about the book without talking about everything that happened to Joe when he went back to his hometown.

Without revealing anything, I will say that the characters were all very interesting. They were all so DIFFERENT. Commonly, you will find some background characters blending in with each other. But each character in this one had their own personality, and it was a very character driven novel. As I said, the plot has been done many times before. The characters are what set this book apart from the others.

It also tackles many tough topics: homophobia, suicide, death, and many more.

4/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “Everyone always wants to know how you can tell when it’s true love, and the answer is this: when the pain doesn’t fade and the scars don’t heal, and it’s too damned late.”

“When you’re eighteen, time isn’t nearly as crotchety and relentless as it becomes soon thereafter, and eight months is nothing less than a lifetime.”

“It’s almost like they knew it would never get any better for them than it was right there. And for me, it was the time I spent with you. And for the last seventeen years, that time was the ball in my trophy case that I could look at every day and find some measure of comfort, of happiness remembered.”

Click To Purchase!

NYPD Red 4 by James Patterson

Synopsis:

When a glitzy movie premiere is the scene of a shocking murder and high-stakes robbery, NYPD Red gets the call. Traversing the city's highs and lows, from celebrity penthouses to the depths of Manhattan's criminal underworld, Zach and Kylie have to find a cold-blooded killer--before he strikes again.

ZACH, PICK A WOMAN!!!!!

That was my most common thought while reading the whole series thus far. Especially in this one though. The books always end promising for him and his relationship, but then he goes and messes it up.

‘4’ was full of action. There were 3 different things that Zach and Kylie were trying to take care of at the same time and it was a bit chaotic. I felt like the book wasn’t long enough for everything to get solved, but I was wrong. Of course, there was a cliff hanger at the end that leads us to the wait time for the 5^th book, but that was to be expected.

It seems like the cases are the most interesting in every other book. The first and the third were the best. The second book was definitely the worst so far. The 4^th was a solid installment in the series, but it left me wanting more. I’m not exactly sure what I felt was missing though.

This series, like many Patterson series, has a great supporting cast around Kylie and Zach. As strong and developed at the main two are, the supporting cast really keep the books going and keep pushing the series forward.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and I can’t wait until the next one!

4/5 stars

Click To Purchase!

NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson

Synopsis:

NYPD Red is the elite, highly trained task force assigned to protect the rich, the famous, and the connected. And Detective Zach Jordan and his partner Kylie MacDonald-the woman who broke his heart at the police academy-are the best of the best, brilliant and tireless investigators who will stop at nothing to deliver justice.

Zach and Kylie's New Year's celebrations are cut short when they're called to the home of billionaire businessman Hunter Alden, Jr. after he makes a grisly discovery in his townhouse garage. When Alden's teenage son goes missing soon afterwards, and his father seems oddly reluctant to find him, Zach and Kylie find themselves in the middle of a chilling conspiracy that threatens everyone in its wake-especially their city's most powerful citizens. NYPD Red 3 is the next sensational novel in James Patterson's explosive new series, a thriller that goes behind the closed doors of New York high society and into the depths of depravity.

The case in this book was so much more interesting than in the second book. It was a lot easier to read through, and it was also really hard to put down.

There were so many questions that I needed answered, and most of them didn’t come until the end. It kept me hanging on and turning the page. I really enjoyed that aspect of it.

The storyline was actually very twisted and messed up once it was all revealed. There was one reveal that made me lift my hand to my mouth. It was a wild ride.

All of the relationships in the series were complicated a bit in this one. They seemed to get worked out in the end, but I have a feeling that won’t be quite true once I crack the spine of #4.

Zach really needs to pick a woman.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quote: "I, on the other hand, have been known to create drama. Especially in my own head."

Click To Purchase!